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Aguadilla

I'm thinking of doing my first surf trip to Aguadilla, PR in November and was wondering if anybody ever surfed there. My buddies say that they have some surfable longboard waves for a beginner/intermediate like myself. I don't want to go there and find monster stuff that would force me to drink El Presidentes on the beach, not that it is such a bad thing.

If it's big, stick to the break right there in town... Bridges? Always smaller than the surrounding breaks because it's sort of back in a corner of the bay. To the north and south there are better waves, but sketchier... Gas Chambers, Crash Boat (can be a real scene)...Tabletop and of course Wilderness.

depending on the swell direction, if its huge in Aquadilla take a ride to rincon, it may be a little smaller and offshore

We found the opposite went last year - when the waves were 10-15'+ west in Rincon and Tres, heading up to Aguadilla provided some fun chest to head high surf at about 5 breaks within a 15 min. drive of each other. As mentioned above, the southern part of Aguadilla just below Crashboat is more protected and going to (almost) always have smaller waves. The northern section can be going off as well, and does, just not as frequent as Rincon in the winter. Still Gas Chambers and Jobos are super fun heavy waves.

Also, there are point and beach breaks with sand right there in the town of Aguadilla and at Crashboat if you are a beginner/intermediate. The reef in Rincon, Marias, and Tres helps the wave height, but my snapped board found it way less forgiving!

You really can't go wrong flying into Aguadilla and expecting to surf in the winter. A 30 min drive in either direction will usually score you some killer surf.

Remember to rent a car. And don't wait until you are down there. We reserved a car and they were all out at the airport when we landed to pick it up. Coupled with lost luggage and the first day was a pain in the ass. Finally our gear showed up and we were blessed with 10 days of overhead surf, cheap (but amazing) food, and killer sights!

Advice - as you drive down to Rincon, the roads get smaller and one lane throughout the mountain side. Stay on your side, because many people don't. When you are driving and parking, watch out for stray dogs (they like to wander the streets and lay up and snooze against the curbing). And surf smart and with a friend if it's big. You don't want to get hurt to the point that you need medical attention. You might not make it to the hospital. We found that no one pulls over for cops or emergency vehicles and medical care in that area is pretty poor.

Oh and the Capri sun style packs of rum and vodka+juice you can find in the gas stations are the ****. LOL.

Pr

I was there two years ago a caught a good swell. Here are some tips from my trip.
1. If you can book flight with Contenental Airlines (Newark Airport, NJ). They have a daily direct flight everyday and its very cheap, if you book early.
2. Can old have two boards per surf bag.
3. Book a rent car (4-wheel drive, some dirt roads) prior to arrival as someone else stated in this forum.
4. If all breaks are too big, travel south of Tres Palms and check Little Malibu. Only breaks if Tres Palms is 10 foot plus. If so, expect good 3-4 glassy conditions. Please note the break is a bit sketchy with shallow umbrella reef, try to fall flat or bail out the back of to avoid hitting reef.
5. Downtown Aquadilla has many good breaks if all other locations have bad winds or is too big to surf. Check out Tamarindo, Sand Pitts (Sandy Point Break), (Jetty - Right in front of police station), plenty of parking. You can also surf School Yards (Don't Surf if raining, waste run-off).
6. If everything is flat go North and suf the trade winds. Surfer Beach/Jobos... very consistant waves on the North, but tradwinds make conditions a bit choppy.
7. As always in Puerto Rico, don't stand up in water, get on your board upon entering water, fall flat on wipeouts, because there are many sea urchins on reef.
8. Ask local surfers were to go if you not sure about certain breaks. Most locals are very cool and friendly, speaking Spanish does help.

forget pr go to central america. its just as much to get there if u book early, cars are as low as 15$ a day instead of 60-80$, hotels are as cheap as 5$ a day rather than 25$ which was the lowest i know of in pr. ur also guaranteed waves in c america; pr gets trade swell everyday but that is hardly worth stepping off a plane for. pr really only gets good when there is a fun swell hitting the east coast or a hurricane going thru the caribbean and we all know how fickle that can be. u risk getting windswell for ur whole trip in pr but c america is a much safer bet. if u do go, u do not need a 4x4 either btw; i rented a yaris and it got out to wilderness which is the worst road i found there.
toda de c america sera bien para ti si me entiendes, if u dont know spanish, only go to cr or panama